The twenty-first century has so far proven to be exciting and wondrous and filled with challenges we had never dreamed. New possibilities previously unimagined appear almost daily . . . and science fiction stories continue to explore those possibilities with delightful results:

Collected in this anthology are such compelling stories as:

"On K2 with Kanakaredes" by Dan Simmons. A relentlessly paced and absorbing tale set in the near future about three mountain climbers who must scale the face of K2 with some very odd company.

"The Human Front" by Ken MacLeod. In this compassionate coming-of-age tale the details of life are just a bit off from things as we know them-and nothing is as it appears to be.

"Glacial" by Alastair Reynolds. A fascinating discovery on a distant planet leads to mass death and a wrenching mystery as spellbinding as anything in recent short fiction.

The twenty-six stories in this collection imaginatively takes us far across the universe, into the very core of our beings, to the realm of the gods, and the moment just after now. Included here are the works of masters of the form and of bright new talents, including:

Eleanor Arnason
Chris Beckett
Michael Blumlein
Michael Cassutt
Brenda W. Clough
Paul Di Filippo
Andy Duncan
Carolyn Ives Gilman
Jim Grimsley
Simon Ings
James Patrick Kelly
Leigh Kennedy
Nancy Kress
Ian R. MacLeod
Ken MacLeod
Paul J. McAuley
Maureen F. McHugh
Robert Reed
Alastair Reynolds
Geoff Ryman
William Sanders
Dan Simmons
Allen M. Steele
Charles Stross
Michael Swanwick
Howard Waldrop

Supplementing the stories are the editor's insightful summation of the year's events and a lengthy list of honorable mentions, making this book a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.


01) Summation: 2001 by Gardner Dozois
02) New Light on the Drake Equation by Ian R. MacLeod
03) More Adventures on Other Planets by Michael Cassutt
04) On K2 with Kanakaredes by Dan Simmons
05) When This World Is All on Fire by William Sanders
06) Computer Virus by Nancy Kress
07) Have Not Have by Geoff Ryman
08) Lobsters by Charles Stross
09) The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick
10) The Chief Designer by Andy Duncan
11) Neutrino Drag by Paul Di Filippo
12) Glacial by Alastair Reynolds
13) The Days Between by Allen Steele
14) One-Horse Town by Howard Waldrop & Leigh Kennedy
15) Moby Quilt by Eleanor Arnason
16) Raven Dream by Robert Reed
17) Undone by James Patrick Kelly
18) The Real Thing by Carolyn Ives Gilman
19) Interview: On Any Given Day by Maureen F. McHugh
20) Isabel of the Fall by Ian R. MacLeod
21) Into Greenwood by Jim Grimsley
22) Know How, Can Do by Michael Blumlein
23) Russian Vine by Simon Ings
24) The Two Dicks by Paul J. McAuley
25) May Be Some Time by B. W. Clough
26) Marcher by Chris Beckett
27) The Human Front by Ken MacLeod
28) Honorable Mentions: 2001 by Gardner Dozois


Read by John Polk
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